Footwear.



PATENTED MAY 26, 1908.

No. sss,45a.'

A. W. BIDDLE.

FOOTWEAR. APPLICATION r'ILnn MAR. 2a, 100B.

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VD m w ALEXANDER W. BIDDLE. F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA,

FOOTWEAR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 26, 1908.

Application filed March 23,.1908. Serial No. 22,588.

To all'who-m it may concern:

Belit known that I, ALEXANDER W. .BID- DLE', a resident of Philadelphia, in' the county 'of Philadelphia and. State of Pennsylvania,

have-invented certain new and useful .Im-

provements in Footwear, 'whereof the folowing is a specification,'reference being had to theac'companying drawings.

The obect 'ofmy invention is to so constructa s oe or boot-,as to efficiently protect-rthemwearer against currents of elecvtricity. Underthe present existing conditions involvingthev wide spread use of dangerous I electrical currents, .it is highly desirable that any-oneynot only motormen, linemen, and

I currents.

others, directly em loyed in the handling of electrical'devices, s ould be able to carry-on their work *with substantial immunity, lzut thatordinary ersons, ignorant-of the dan ger-towhich-t ey aredaily exposed, should be protected alnst accident from electrical Oiifinarily, the circuit which is fatal or injurious to a human being is completedthrou'gh the feet, and hence in order to afford-protection, efficient electrical insulationumustube provided at that region.

Shoes. made com letely of rubber or having thesoles and hee sentirely of rubber, though af ording insulation, are, as is well known,

unconrl'cr ablejto the-wearer, as well ,asunhealthy under some circumstances; do not afford: a secure footing on wet smooth surfaces and lack the durability which is desirable for-every day wear.

Shoes having: leather soles do not afford effective insulation, even when not saturated with moisture'from external sources, since the perspiration of the foot tends to dampen the .sole, and, being somewhat saline in its character, the retained dampness renders the leather and stitching distinctly conductive The'mere addition. of a non-conducting element,:such a's-rubber or mica, &c., to an ordinaryleather sole, as' has been employed for water-proofing purposes, does not insure protection, because of the existence of, certain weakpointsain the insulation of shoes of this character, as heretofore constructed. Mypresent invention embodies a combinationwvith the desired leather elements, which go to ,make .up a serviceable shoe, of insulating elements so organized as to present no weak spot in the insulation, and hence I am enabled to interpose between the foot of the wearer, and the ground or other conductor, a structure which is practically of such high resistance throughout its entire interposed portion as to afford complete and effective insulation.

In the accom )anying draWing'sFigure I, represents in side elevation a shoe embodying my invention. Fig. II, is a vertical transverse section through the foot on the line H, II, of Fig. I. Fig. III, is a vertical transverse section through the heel and adjacent portion of the upper, on the line III, III, ofrFig. I.

Referring to the drawings, 1,- represents the u per of an ordinary leather'shoe, having-"t e usual thin insole 2, -and provided with what may be considered as an ordinary double sole, composed of the inner sole 3, and thick outer sole 4. The inner sole 3, is

stitched to the u per, in the usual manner.

h unite the outer sole 4, to. the inner sole 3, are located in recesses or grooves 5, so as to be embeddedwithin the The stitches whic feather itself and above the bottom surface of the sole. These grooves, after the stitches have been sewed, are filled with insulating material,.such as rubber cement, &c., indicated by the heavy cross section lines in the grooves 5, so that moisture cannot reach the stitches. Interposed between the inner sole 3, and the outer'sole 4, is, a continuous sheet or layer of insulating material 6, such as rubber, asbestos &c., which extends, as shown, throughout the entire length of the shoe, including the region above or through the heel.

The stitches 7, of course passthrough this sheet, but, since said stitches are themselves insulated by the cement or other non-con ducting fillin within the grooves 5-, they do not practically detract from the efficient insulation.

Theheel 9, may be built up in the usual manner by a num er of leather pieces which may be secured together. by nails 10, arran ed in series, as indicated at 10, 11, and 12. respective series, however, are arranged in staggeredrelation, so that the metal of one series does not touch that of another, and hence, the conductivity of the heel as awhole, is limited by the existence of leather portions between the metallic ones. of the uppermost sericslZ, pass through the insulating sheet 6, in order to secure the heel to the inner sole 3, which is extended throughout that region. To meet the condition thus The nails created, I interpose at the region of the heel, and preferably extending slightly beyond it, a secondary insulating sheet 13, which is located above the ends of the nails and which may be covered by the insole 2, or by a separate layer of thin material. Hence, it will be seen that there is a complete and practically impert'orate layer or sheetof insulating material, directly below the foot, throughout the entirelength and width of the shoe, and that the only places where said sheet is traversed by an element -which might act as conductors (i. e. the stitches in the soles and the nails in the heel), are. protected by a secondary insulation of the character described.

The shoe as thus constructed is neat in appearance and entirely comfortable, since the insulating elements are completely shielded from What might be unpleasant proximity to the foot. Incidentally they may tend to make the shoe water-proof, but this of course. is a secondary advantage and not the direct result aimed at.

Having thus described my invention, I state that I do not broadly claim the use of rubber or insulating material for the sole or heel of a shoe, for I am of course aware that rubber, mica, &c., have been employed heretofore for Water-proofingpurposes. Nor do I even broadly claim such material as an ele ment in the structure of the heel or sole.

I believe that as heretofore employed, even though it may have accidentally had some tendency toward electrical insulation, the elements have notbeen so organized as to completely and etlectively protect the wearer against electric currents.

i I claim:-

The C()l1]lf)l1-1til3l0l1 with the upper, oian in ner sole secured thereto. an outer sole provided with grooves and secured to the inner sole by means of stitches embedded in said grooves; an insulatinglillingfor said grooves; a primary sheet of insulating material ('o-extensive with the inner sole and arranged below the same; a heel secured to said inner sole, the layers of said heel being secured by. I

non-contindous fastening elements; and

secondary sheet of non-conducting material arranged above the primary sheet at the region ot the heel, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof, 1 have hereunto" signed my name, at Philadelphia, Pennsvlvania, this twentydirst day of March, 1908i.

ALEXANDER \Yl RIDDLE.

\Yitnesscs:

JAMES ll. BELL, E. ll. FULLERTON. 

